That's two episodes in a row written by Kathleen Hite where a sexually repressed young lady gets rebuffed by the man of her dreams. And neither show is very convincing.
Too bad that the great combo of Hite and director Harry Harris seems to have hit a wall--- too much emphasis on frustrated, neurotic women that alters the character of Gunsmoke in a detrimental way. I'm fine with a certain amount of insightful female characters dealing with the male-dominated, rough 'n tough Old West setting--- but it seems that Hite was going for too much of a 20th-century sensibility and approach, at least for my taste.
The early scenes with Everett Sloane and his family in the hotel are pretty lame; Shirley O'Hara (Sloane's wife Florie) overacts to a degree that's surprisingly bad for a Harry Harris show; I'm sure she was very effective on stage, but her affected, artificial delivery is really off-putting in front of the camera. The daughter (Belle) is barely any better. Everett (and the audience) deserved better.
And WHY IN THE WORLD would Everett Sloane give a total stranger $3,000 without any witness, notary-- AT LEAST a signed receipt with Clardy's signature and the whereabouts of his shack--ANYTHING! It's just plain stupid, but necessary as a plot device.
The episode also has a real structural problem: it features two different plots, each which would have made a solid 1/2-hour show. Chester gets a late-inning chance to shine in the series, and his final scene when he returns the money to Everett Sloane provides a very satisfying conclusion-- to HIS story.
The other story-- which rates the show's title and involves Everett Sloane's family, finally gets underway about half-way through, but never really hits its stride. Near the end, the young lady says "Quint, I'll never forget you..." -- a great line for a fully-developed plot with lots of depth and personal drama. But we spend so much of our time watching Chester conversing with Matt about his talent as a lawman, roping hapless Don Haggerty at his cabin, etc---that the young lady's relationship with Quint hardly seems to matter; it never had time to register emotionally with the viewer.
Don Haggerty's final scene--roped by Chester and brought into the hoosegow-- is definitely worth a look. It's pretty funny (if you're interested, check out Haggerty's brief scenes in the classic "Asphalt Jungle", as the detective who interviews Marilyn Monroe at Louis Calhern's bachelor pad. Haggerty's reaction when his boss (John McIntyre) asks hims "How'd you find the girl?" is truly, subtly, funny). LR
